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Three weeks ago at just about the half way point, after 86 games played the Seattle Mariners were a .500 ballclub at 43-43, a surprise contender in the A.L. West, sitting two and a half games behind Texas and the Angels for the AL West division lead.

On July 6th they lost at home to the Oakland A’s. Then, just before the All-Star break they went to Los Angeles where they were swept four games by the Angels. After the break Seattle lost four more games at home the Texas Rangers (who were in the middle of their own 12-game winning streak) getting outscored 17-2 in the four game set. Then it was onto the road to try and change their luck. Three more losses at the Rogers Center against the Toronto Blue Jays, then three more at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox, and last night’s 10-3 and Yankee Stadium and the Mariners are now on the road trip from hell, losers of 16 straight games. To the players, coaches and fans surely this road trip seems like it will never end. Mercifully, the Mariners have just two more games with the Yankees before returning home to Safeco Field where this all started.

With Monday’s loss, the Mariners fell to 43-59. Their franchise-record losing streak is Major League Baseball’s longest since the 2005 Kansas City Royals lost 19 games in a row.

Seattle’s pitching staff, began Monday with the fourth-best earned run average (3.53) in the A.L., has a 5.97 E.R.A. during this streak, better than only Baltimore Orioles (not good). Their hitters haven’t fared any better during this streak as they’ve hit at just a .227 clip with four starters, Jack Cust, Justin Smoak, Adam Kennedy and Chone Figgins hitting below .200.

Given that the facts that the Mariners have slipped into a July baseball coma and that they are in New York, you know the question has to be asked. Will the Seattle Mariners trade Felix Hernandez to the New York Yankees?

When told Monday that he would have to remove his goatee from his chin because the Yankees have a no facial hair policy King Felix laughed and said,“I know, that’s why I’m not coming here.”

Seattle has given no indications that they would be willing to trade Hernandez. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner is just 25-years old and in the prime of his career. Hernandez makes $10 million this year, next season his salary jumps to $18.5 million, and 2014 the Mariners have to pay him $20 million.

While the Mariners haven’t been burning up the phone lines trying to deal Hernandez, one would have to think that with the decline of Ichiro, the recent losing streak, and the likelihood that Seattle will lose 95 games with him, they might just as well lose 100 games without him and save the $28.5 million. There are no prospects for a turnaround in Seattle with the way the franchise is currently constituted and one could make the argument that making a Hershel Walker-type blockbuster deal (that’s what it would take) would be the answer to turning this franchise around. Hey, it worked for Dallas right? Ultimately that trade translated into three Super Bowls.

When asked before Monday’s game what he thought about possibly playing in New York Hernandez said,“I like it here. But it is not in my hands. It is not my decision.”

It seems like the Yankees dealing for King Felix had been rumored for so long, while never being a realistic probability. Given the current circumstances surrounding the Mariners, is now the right time for the Seattle to trade Felix Hernandez to the Yankees?

Random Musings

Michael Cuddyer Pitches Scoreless Frame

On a night when the Minnesota Twins pitching staff was absolutely clobbered giving up 27 hits in a 20-6 trouncing by the Texas Rangers, first baseman-outfielder Michael Cuddyer as it turns out, was perhaps their best pitcher. Even at that the Twins apparently could stand the prosperity. Check out the video of Cuddyer pitchingcourtesy ofMLB.comas he gets out of the inning despite his fielders behind him making every attempt to botch nearly every ball put in play….